Feb 22, 2017

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New Voices in Cinema brings films produced by emerging filmmakers supported by Doha Film Institute as well as short films ‘Made in Qatar’

Tickets go on sale from February 19 for screenings from March 1 to 8

Doha, Qatar; February 18, 2017: Qumra 2017, the third edition of the industry development event organised by the Doha Film Institute, will screen a selection of films that include compelling modern classics by the Qumra Masters and a captivating selection of films in the ‘New Voices in Cinema’ segment by emerging filmmakers including short films ‘Made in Qatar.’ Qumra has three world premieres for Qatari shorts; RED, Our Time Is Running Out and I Have Been Watching You All Along. Qumra 2017 has 3 films that were part of Qumra projects before being screened; Holy Cow, Mimosas and Kashta. Qumra 2017 is being held from March 3 to 8 Souq Waqif and the Museum of Islamic Art, with the screenings commencing on March 1 at 8:00 pm.

Fatima Al Remaihi, CEO of Doha Film Institute said: “The public screenings of the films as part of Qumra aims to strengthen a culture of film appreciation by opening doors to the works of Masters as well as new talents. While the works of the Qumra Masters are a form of reference for film lovers, with the mastery of their craft, the New Voices segment present vignettes of how cinema is evolving with fresh narrative styles and powerful stories by emerging filmmakers including Qatari directors.”

The screenings will also offer the opportunity for members of the audience to interact with the filmmakers through an open Q&A session. This year, French auteur Bruno Dumont; Cambodian creative documentarian Rithy Panh; contemporary Iranian master Asghar Farhadi; Argentina’s eminent filmmaker Lucrecia Martel and internationally acclaimed producer Paulo Branco are the Qumra Masters.

On March 4, watch the Qumra Master Screening of Li’l Quinquin (France/ 2014) by Bruno Dumont at 7 PM. The film, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival, is a murder mystery that opens with the discovery of human body parts stuffed inside a cow on the outskirts of a small channel town in northern France.

Nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film and screened in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, The Missing Picture (Cambodia, France/ 2013) by Rithy Panh will be screened at 7.30 PM on March 5. It is a quest that cinema allows into a missing picture, a photograph taken between 1975 and 1979 by the Khmer Rouge when they ruled Cambodia.

On March 6, at 7 PM, About Elly (Iran/ 2009) by Asghar Farhadi will be screened. It fetched Farhadi the Silver Bear for Best Director at Berlin International Film Festival. The film is about a group of old college friends, who reunite for a weekend adventure on the sea, but compounding lies and deception quickly lead to catastrophe.

La Ciénaga (Argentina, France Spain/ 2001), by Lucrecia Martel, which won the Alfred Bauer Prize at Berlin International Film Festival for ‘opening new perspectives on cinema art’ will screen on March 7 at 7 PM. The film is about the life of two women and their families in a small provincial town of Salta, Argentina.

The New Voices in Cinema screenings begins with diverse selected films supported by Doha Film Institute on March 2, at 8 PM, watch Dogs (Romania, France, Bulgaria, Qatar/ 2016) by Bogdan Florian Mirică, about Roman, who returns to the land near the border with Ukraine that he has just inherited from his grandfather. Fully decided to sell the vast but desolate property, he is warned by the local cop that his grandfather was a local crime lord and his men will not let go of the land.

On March 1 at 8 PM, Tramontane (Lebanon, France, United Arab Emirates, Qatar/ 2016) by Vatche Boulghourjian will be screened. The film is about Walid, a young blind man, who travels across rural Lebanon in search of a record of his own birth and encounters a nation unable to retell his or its own past.

Holy Cow (Azerbaijan, Germany, Romania, Qatar/ 2015) by Imamaddin Hasanov, about one man’s dream of bringing a European cow in his picturesque village in Azerbaijan, which unsettles the conservative community, will be screened on March 4 at 4 PM. Also watch Mimosas (Spain, Morocco, France, Qatar/ 2016) by Oliver Laxe, the film won the Grand Jury prize at the critics week in Cannes and will be screening on March 8 at 8 PM; it is a film somewhere between faith and the absence of faith.

The short films in the New Voices in Cinema programme includes films from emerging directors including Qatari filmmakers. On March 3, from 4.30 PM, watch Kashta (2016) by A.J. Al Thani, about a father who takes his two sons to the desert for a day trip to go hunting; I Have Been Watching You All Along (2017) by Rawda Al-Thani, where a girl explores the forgotten memories of an abandoned theatre through a trancelike journey into its past; Turtles Are Always Home (2016) by Rawane Nassif, about Walid, a young blind man, who travels across rural Lebanon in search of a record of his own birth; RED (2017) by Kholood Mohammed Al-Ali, about a young boy’s boring, which changes from monotonous to exciting from the mere existence of a pair of red shoes; and Our Time Is Running Out (2017) by Meriem Mesraoua about a pragmatic teenager, who doubts the logic of his world.

The sale of tickets commences on February 19. Visit www.dohafilminstitute.com for online and in person ticketing details.

Qumra 2017 programming includes industry meetings designed to assist in propelling selected projects to the next stages of development, through master classes, work-in-progress screenings, bespoke matchmaking sessions and tailored workshops with industry experts. New this year is the Accredited Delegates Programme, developed for professionals from diverse backgrounds which will allow 100 local and regional delegates to access more opportunities and be a part of the platform for discovery, networking, and inspiration. Another new addition is ‘Qumra Talks’, a series of three specially curated discussions that gathers leaders from the technology, film, TV and online worlds to share their insights on trending topics impacting the international film industry.